Our Team

Vicki Whiting taught third grade for nearly ten years with the daily goal of making learning fun.

During her years teaching in Sonoma, CA she developed Kid Scoop, a weekly newspaper feature geared to children ages 7 to 12, that appears in over 300 newspapers with a combined circulation of more than 7.5 million. The popularity of Kid Scoop led Whiting to leave the classroom and become a full-time children’s author and curriculum developer. She is also a consultant to newspapers on the topic of developing youth readership and educational partnerships. She has been a consultant or writer for The New York Times, Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, The United States Golf Association in addition to numerous educational publishers. Whiting launched the literacy non-profit, Kid Scoop News, to expand low-income students to access to high-interest reading materials.

Ellen Creane has experienced a lifetime of three education-related careers:

• High school journalism teacher and college ESL instructor
• Marketing manager at three educational publishing companies and Newspaper in Education marketing manager at three daily newspapers
• Freelance reporter selling features about education and other topics to community daily newspapers, and writer of curriculum guides
• After teaching a few years, she was recruited as a marketing assistant at a small textbook company that had won a K-4 California state social studies textbook adoption. She successfully marketed the K-4 series in teacher workshops around the state and gained for the company widespread district adoption of the grades 5-8 textbooks in the inquiry-based series.

As Southern California sales manager for Random House Education Division, she sold a $10K reading lab in multiples (9-15) to major school districts. She was Director of Seminars with Lee Canter and Associates, managing a team of 38 consultants who delivered more than 1,000 teacher workshops in classroom behavior management per year nationally.

Ellen was Educational Services Manager for a community daily in southern California, growing annual school circulation from 90,862 copies to 650,000 copies in the hands of students, grades 1-12, plus ESL adult school, over seven years. She moved to The New York Times as Newspaper in Education Manager growing circulation to students from a few thousand copies a year to more than eight million copies annually.

Volunteering with Literacy Volunteers, Ellen discovered a passion for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). She taught at the adult education level for six years and eight years at two Connecticut community colleges.

Ellen has written several dozen curriculum guides, marketing communication publications, and a history of a group of women Marines during World War II. She wrote and sold freelance features to newspapers from her college years through 2019.

Ellen is a graduate of San Francisco State University and earned the University of Cambridge (England) ESOL Breadth and Depth of Knowledge Certificate as well as the State of Connecticut Provisional Educator Certificate—Teaching Non-English-Speaking Adults.

Karen Roche is CEO of SommSelect and Chairman of the Board at Advanced Brain Monitoring.

She has held many senior management positions in her career including President of Streetwise Reports, COO at Winetasting.com, and partner at Sibson & Company. Karen participates on the boards of several nonprofits, including Impact 100/Sonoma and the Sonoma International Film Festival. She graduated from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. She earned high marks in school for her creative writing, which she attributes to early love of reading.

An educator for over 40 years, Elena Toscano served in the public school system as a classroom teacher, principal, high school dean, district coordinator, director and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction in Napa Valley, California.

Her experiences as a classroom teacher, site administrator and educational consultant provided a rich background in standards-based teaching and learning, budget management, educational policy and leadership. She has had articles published in educational journals, presented at state conferences and in retirement serves as an educational consultant.

As a classroom teacher, Elena was one of the first to pioneer the use of newspapers to supplement curriculum and has been a strong advocate for the use of primary resources in the classroom.

“Kid Scoop News engages students in a way that is both instructive and constructive. The activities in weekly lessons support standards-based instruction across multiple grade levels in a way that makes learning powerful and fun. Classroom discipline is never an issue when students center their attention on the news of the day. Kid Scoop News ‘scoops’ kids into the ‘grown up’ world of current events in a way that is relevant and engaging.”

Elena is the proud mother of three Kid Scoop graduates and three grandchildren who are up-and coming readers. Elena and her husband, Jim Colyar, live in Sonoma, California.

Silverman, board secretary, has served Kid Scoop as an informal advisor for more than 20 years.

He graduated with the first B.A. in children’s literature in the U.S., is a retired public librarian and currently curates an online California History project described as a digital playground where people can practice being historians and geographers.

Nora Paller has been a Group Chair for Vistage since 2000, with two CEO groups and a KEY group. She has coached over 23,000 hours, and facilitated over 1,200 all-day peer group meetings.

Nora also does private executive coaching, group facilitation, and strategic planning for mid-size companies. Nora recently completed a 4-year consulting engagement of monthly Leadership Training for 20 managers at a mid-sized distribution company.

For three years, Nora ran 2 Vistage Inside Groups at Panda Restaurant Group (Panda Express) to mentor the senior Management Team in effective leadership, better decision-making as a team, and communication in a fast-growth environment. This included bridging the gap between the Chinese culture and the American customer.

Paller has an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA, and undergraduate degrees from U.C. Irvine in Comparative Culture and Spanish Literature.

Born and raised in western Washington, Pendell spent much time as a youngster assisting his grandfather, in maintaining and managing his 7 acres of various shrubs, flowers, and Christmas trees. This early experience informed him throughout his career.

Pendell attended Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. He spent the first 15 years after college, working at the Burroughs Corporation in their Spokane, Washington office.

It was then that Pendell put his skills to use at a technology start-up, enjoying the fast moving, innovative culture of a small company environment. For more than 20 years, he proceeded to run revenue generation and marketing teams at nine different start-ups. Pendell spent the last ten years as a revenue generation executive for Fidelity Information Systems before retiring in 2023.

Pendell and his wife, Debbe, lived in San Francisco for a number of years, before calling Sonoma their permanent home. They support and are involved in several local non-profit organizations located in Sonoma and Sonoma County, including Transcendence Theater Company, Impact 100, Sonoma Arts Live Theater Company, and Kid Scoop News! “My personal goal in retirement is to dedicate my time, creativity and knowledge to organizations I believe in, and where I can bring value.”

Debra Lambrecht joins Kid Scoop News with a rich background of fiscal and educational leadership in private and public schools; professional development training for educators, practitioners and community leaders across 40 states; non-profit organizational leadership for 18 years including fund development and strategic planning; along with teaching master’s level courses for social workers and teachers.

Ms. Lambrecht also founded and led a K-8 school for children with learning differences and developmental delays. She has authored publications including A Common-Sense Education in Uncommon Times published in 2017. Her books, Caring About Kids Elementary and High School Core Programs and Facilitation Manual were required texts for the California State University Master’s Counseling Program. She holds a dozen professional licenses, accreditations, and certifications.

Debra was awarded the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow for contribution to youth success and the United Way Partner Award for achieving significant results and exceeding its goals.

Upon stepping into the role of Executive Director, Debra reported “I’m discovering just how beloved Kid Scoop News is within the community. Working with our generous donors, we are getting newspapers in the hands of kids in the classroom, after-school programs and beyond. The results are obvious! Especially for reluctant readers, a newspaper that is hands on with interesting stories and fun games leads to a love of reading that lasts a lifetime.

Theresa Rhodes joined Kid Scoop News in August 2023 as Development & Operations Director.

A professional with over 25 years in non-profit work primarily focused on supporting children and families in education. She began her non-profit career while in graduate school, supporting the underserved area of San Rafael. Theresa brings experience in organization development, fundraising, events, and supporting educational programs – from early parent education & preschool, music, art and writing programs, to a high school engineering academy, and now, her role at Kid Scoop News.

Theresa wholeheartedly supports programs and resources that spark collaboration, pique curiosity, and create life-long learners. She enjoys many things creative; the great outdoors, traveling, seeking the humor in life, and spending time with her children and fiancé. Her children attend/ed Sonoma Valley public schools, all receiving Kid Scoop News.

theresa@kidscoopnews.org

Monica is passionate about early literacy, community connection, and supporting educators in meaningful, hands-on ways. As the Teacher Engagement Coordinator for Kid Scoop News, she works directly with teachers to help integrate the newspaper into their classrooms, offering guidance, sharing creative ideas, answering questions, and providing support throughout the school year.

With a background in early childhood education, community arts, and family literacy, Monica brings a warm, creative approach to her work. In addition to her role with Kid Scoop News, she also facilitates a bilingual early childhood education program that supports young children and their caregivers through play, learning, and connection. She believes in the power of storytelling and the importance of access to engaging, child-friendly materials that make learning fun and relevant.

Monica is also active in her local arts and education communities, teaching painting classes, volunteering, and always looking for new ways to support children and families through creativity and learning. Bilingual and deeply committed to equity in education, she is proud to help Kid Scoop News reach more students, teachers, and families across the region.

monica@kidscoopnews.org

Vicki Whiting taught third grade for nearly ten years with the daily goal of making learning fun.

During her years teaching in Sonoma, CA she developed Kid Scoop, a weekly newspaper feature geared to children ages 7 to 12, that appears in over 300 newspapers with a combined circulation of more than 7.5 million. The popularity of Kid Scoop led Whiting to leave the classroom and become a full-time children’s author and curriculum developer. She is also a consultant to newspapers on the topic of developing youth readership and educational partnerships. She has been a consultant or writer for The New York Times, Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey, The National Baseball Hall of Fame, The United States Golf Association in addition to numerous educational publishers. Whiting launched the literacy non-profit, Kid Scoop News, to expand low-income students to access to high-interest reading materials.

Jeff Schinkel joined Kid Scoop full-time in 2004, and currently serves as creative director.

In this position, he is responsible for creating illustrations, graphics and page design as well as marketing materials for Kid Scoop. Prior to joining Kid Scoop, Mr. Schinkel served as creative services director at ANG Newspapers (now Bay Area News Group) based in the San Francisco Bay Area. In this role, he was responsible for writing, designing and developing advertising campaigns and marketing materials to promote a chain of seven daily newspapers and their websites in the East Bay with a circulation of 230,000.

Eli grew up in the little town of Cazadero, California, a place with a population of 420 perched in the redwoods above the Russian River.

Smith received a graphics degree from Santa Rosa Junior College and became interested in visual arts from his father, a painter, and from growing up with computers and creativity software such as Kid Pix. Smith has accumulated extensive experience in web design and management.

An accomplished photographer specializing in bird and landscape photography, Smith spends much of his weekends hiking and photographing the hills and beaches of Sonoma County.